Hello from London: A Sightseeing Cruise
on the Thames River
It was barely mid-day by now and we had already seen so much. Our
ride
on the Number 11 bus had introduced us to some of the city’s
main sights from the comfort of the upper level of a double-decker
bus. And our subsequent walking tour had taken us past Buckingham
Palace, Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament where we listened
to Big Ben ringing in the noon hour.
Noon rings out at "Big Ben"
But our whirlwind London sightseeing adventure was to continue.
To get an even better feel for the city we were planning to go on
a sightseeing tour with Thames River Cruises that departed from
Westminster Pier. To me a sightseeing trip on the Thames River was
just an absolute must for a stay in London. Soon the voice of our
tour guide came on the speaker system, and he entertained us with
bits of knowledge about London and with his dry humour.
Heading down on Westminster Pier to the cruise boat
From the boat we got a brilliant view of the Houses of Parliament
and the London Eye, and we kept chugging eastwards past the Royal
Festival Hall and the National Theatre. The modern office development
above Charing Cross station came into view, and further along on
the north bank we saw Somerset House, an impressive Neoclassical
building from the late 1700s that used to house government offices
and today is a centre for arts, heritage and entertainment.
The Parliament Buildings from the boat
Shortly after, on the south bank of the river, the OXO tower came
into view. Originally built as a power station for the Post Office
in the late 1900s, it was purchased by the company that manufactured
Oxo beef stock cubes and was rebuilt in the late 1920s along the
Art Deco style. Three vertical windows on each side of the tower
are shaped like a circle, a cross and another circle, effectively
spelling out the word “OXO” – an ingenious way
to get around the advertising restrictions of the times.
The London Eye from the boat
The five wrought iron arches of the Blackfriars bridge appeared,
and the gigantic dome of St. Pauls Cathedral peaked out above the
buildings on the north side as a backdrop to the London Millennium
Footbridge, a modern steel suspension bridge opened in June of 2000
that is for pedestrian use only. Walking straight north on this
bridge provides a great scenic view of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
View of St. Paul's Cathedral
The south side of the Thames River features the Tate Modern art
gallery that is located in the former Bankside Power Station, a
major tourist attraction since 2000. The gallery houses works of
Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Surrealism and contemporary art
from the last 25 years. A short distance further east on the south
bank of the river is Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, a 1997 recreation
of The Globe Theatre whose original version was destroyed by fire
in 1613. William Shakespeare was indeed one of the original shareholders
of The Globe Theatre. The modern version is an open-air circular
theatre with three levels of steep seating. Only the stage and some
expensive seated areas are covered by a roof, and plays are staged
from May to October every year.
Great views from the Thames River
The next major sight was coming up: the Tower of London, right
next to Tower Bridge. The most well-known part of the tower is the
original square fortress that was built by William the Conqueror
in 1078. Over the years the tower has been used as a fortress, a
royal palace and a prison. Even executions and acts of torture took
place here. And for more than 700 years the tower has also been
the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.
Tower Bridge, one of London's most famous landmarks
Tower Bridge, one of London’s most well-known landmarks,
is a relatively recent addition to the cityscape. It was opened
in 1894 and is a combined bascule and suspension bridge. The suspension
bridge allows boats to pass through while the fixed elevated bascule
bridge facilitates uninterrupted foot traffic. The bridge features
delicate Victorian Gothic ornamentation which harmonizes its appearance
with the adjacent Tower of London. Although the bridge is much loved
today, many contemporary early 20th century commentators were rather
critical about it; some even called it absurd.
Detail of Tower Bridge
The museum ship HMS Belfast came into view, a gunship that was
launched in 1938 that played a key role in destroying the German
battle cruiser Scharnhorst. Since 1971 this ship has been used as
a floating naval museum. We were now moving on into east London
and the Docklands area, part of London’s extensive marine
transportation facilities. In the 1800s ships would lay anchor at
the wet docks where their cargo would be loaded and unloaded; vessels
that needed repair went into the drydocks. New ships were built
at dockyards that flanked the river. With the advent of container
shipping, all the London docks closed between 1960 and 1980, and
the entire area became run down.
London from the Thames
Soon redevelopment efforts were underway and the London Docklands
Development Corporation was formed in 1981 to revitalize the area.
Since then many residential and commercial projects have brought
new life to the Docklands. The most well-known of them is Canary
Wharf, a large office and shopping area centred around the old West
India Docks that was opened in 1991.
One of the many bridges over the Thames
Canary Wharf is dominated by the 50-story Canada Tower which is
a modern office and shopping complex that had gone through major
economic problems and stood mostly empty during the real estate
collapse of the early 1990s. Today Canary Wharf’s tenants
include major international banks such as Bank of America, Northern
Trust, Citygroup, Credit Suisse and others. About 90,000 people
are employed in Canary Wharf buildings.
Canary Wharf
We had reached the last part of our cruise: Greenwich, home of
the Greenwich Meridian which denotes 0 degrees longitude and passes
through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. This town also gave name
to Greenwich Mean Time. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich holds
the largest refracting telescope in the UK while the National Maritime
Museum showcases boats, paintings and naval instruments.
Approaching the arrival in Greenwich
Greenwich itself is a historic town at the eastern approach to
London and is home to the popular Greenwich Market. A famous clipper
ship, the Cutty Sark, has been preserved in a dry dock by the Thames
River, but it was partially destroyed by fire in 2007. A circular
building by the riverfront holds the entrance to the Greenwich foot
tunnel which has been connecting Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs on
the north side of the Thames since 1902.
Our packed day of sightseeing became even more hectic since we
were planning to join a walking tour of East London in the area
of Whitechapel. But to do so we had to really hurry and catch the
Docklands Light Railway, a computer-controlled light rail system
that normally does not have a driver. I secured a spot right at
the front of the vehicle and had a perfect view of the neighbourhoods
of East London that we were passing through.
Another look at the Parliament Buildings
Finally, shortly after two pm, we arrived in Whitechapel, ready
to join a walking tour called “London’s
Unknown East End”. The East End is a working class area
that was marred by extreme poverty and wide-spread crime during
the 19th century. It is also infamous for being the location of
the gruesome serial murders of Jack the Ripper. I was looking forward
to learning more about this fascinating area of London and how it
has transformed itself in recent years.
